It also said it was able to infect USB drives, use the removable media to store collected information in a hidden file and disinfect a drive under certain circumstances.

Gauss "bears a striking resemblance" to the Flame malware according to Alexander Gostev, chief security researcher at Kaspersky Lab.

“Similar to Flame and Duqu, Gauss is a complex cyber espionage toolkit, with its design emphasising stealth and secrecy," he said.

Gauss, like Flame, Stuxnet and Duqu had infected machines via USB, ran C&Cs on Linux, used fake SSL certificates, hid traffic with HTTPS, and registered fake names and addresses that pointed to hotels and public places.

The malware was found during investigations by Kaspersky into Flame at the request of the International Telecommunications Union (ITU).

It was identified through commonalities it shared with Flame which included architectural platforms, module structures, code bases and means of communication with command and C&C servers.

The first incidents with Gauss date back as early as September last year. The Gauss C&C servers had stopped functioning 10 months later.

Chief malware expert Vitaly Kamluk said Gauss was the first time a nation-sponsored attack stole the details of internet banking users.

He said it was the third discovery of a nation-state sponsored cyber attack within 12 months.

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